Out of that Brooding Cloud – Solangelo
by Queenie Mab
Summary: Nico's really not looking forward to another summer of trying not to crush on Will Solace.


Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and themes are the property of Rick Riordan from the world of Percy Jackson. I am not making any money from this work of fiction. I'm just having a good time playing around in his sandbox.

Let me know if you enjoy the fic in the comments! I love to hear what I'm doing right. XD

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It's odd, how different the world feels lately. The coming summer feels like a huge cloud of endless days pressing in on him from all sides, trapping him under their weight.

Nico sits on the dock, his feet dangling, nearly touching the surface, and stares out across Canoe Lake to where the Apollo archers are practicing. His eyes fix on one in particular, the only one who is laughing and not giving a damn about improving his marks. Will Solace, his blond hair kissed by the sun. It's brighter now than it had been the last time he'd seen him. Talking to him again, it's going to be painful; Nico's not sure he can bear it.

As he watches, Will sets down his bow and quiver and pulls his camp T-shirt off, then mops his face with it. Nico looks away, focusing instead at the water. It's so stupid, this crush. He told himself he was finished with the whole idea of crushes, of relationships when he'd settled his score with Percy. That was two years ago now. For the most part, it hasn't been difficult, but the summer months are a challenge, especially when Will – really his closest friend still at the camp – insists on looking like sex on legs and smiling all the time.

He scowls and stands up, then dusts off his pants, he wouldn't want to have dirt smudged on the ass of his jeans when he sees Will at dinner. He breathes out sharply through his nose at the thought. _It's a stupid crush. It shouldn't matter to me what Will thinks of my dirty jeans. Hell, he'd never look anyway. Why do I always do this?_

He turns and stalks back to Hades cabin without glancing back across the lake. He hates himself for how much he'd looked forward to Will coming back, and now that he's here, he hates himself for not being able to look at him without feeling overwhelmed by emotions he'd sworn he'd never let happen again.

"Ow, damn!" He trips on his shoelace climbing the obsidian steps to his cabin. Styx, his shin hurts when it strikes the stone.

"Nico!"

_Great. Just what I need. Now Will's going to go all doctor on me again._

He grits his teeth and turns, shaking his hair so his bangs cover his eyes, and prays to Hades that the flush spreading over his cheeks will be mistaken for a response to pain.

Will frowns. "Are you alright?" Without waiting for a response, he takes Nico's elbow, slides his arm around his back and guides him into his cabin. "Better let me take a look at that. If it just happened, I can probably make it so it won't even bruise if we're quick."

Nico goes with it, not saying a word. Will has his bare chest pressed up against him, and has no idea what that's doing to Nico's body, to his brain. If he opened his mouth, he'd probably moan and it wouldn't be moan of pain.

He allows himself to be led to his bunk and slumps onto it, lips tightly sealed. Will releases him and drops to his knees beside Nico's feet. He takes off Nico's shoes, then looks up at him. The light in the cabin is low, but there is enough for them to see each other. Will's eyebrows are drawn in the middle. He looks almost sad.

"I'll need you to take off your jeans. The pant leg is too fitted for me to pull it up."

Nico closes his eyes. He's had two summers of getting to know Will. When it comes to healing, the guy takes his job seriously. It's not worth it to fuss. He stands, unzips his fly and shucks his pants, then sits back down. The hair on his legs stands on end.

Will puts his palm over the pulsing pain in his shin and begins to chant a hymn to Apollo in Greek. Warmth rushes up through Nico's legs all the way to the top of his head and then seems to sink back down until it's pooling in his gut.

Will looks back up and releases his leg. Nico slips back into his pants, facing away from Will, his heart thudding hard against his ribs. Then he realizes that Will might think it's rude of him to not say anything. He turns back around. Will's still watching him as if he's searching his face for some sort of sign. "Thanks," Nico murmurs, his bangs falling into his eyes again.

Will sighs. "I dunno, di Angelo. I think I might just have to stay on after the summer if we're back to one word conversations."

Nico starts. "What? No. I'm fine."

Will doesn't seem convinced. "Yeah? Come for a walk with me, then. I'd love to catch up on what's been going on this past year."

Nico cringes inwardly. He and Will had gotten to be really close friends the previous two summers, but now, with the difficulty of keeping his crush from turning into a full-fledged monster, he's not sure he has it in him to put himself through another summer.

Will walks to the door and raises an eyebrow. "You scared of me?" It doesn't sound like the challenge he knows Will intended it to. Instead, it sounds like he's genuinely concerned that Nico might be afraid. That's just not okay.

"Of course not." Nico bolsters himself and follows Will out the door, trying hard to not feel like he's walking to his own doom. _I am a child of Hades. I'm the Ghost King. There is no logical reason for me to be losing my cool like this. Get a fucking grip, di Angelo._

They walk side by side to the strawberry fields. The sun is fully in the sky and the Demeter kids that tend the plants have already finished their work for the day, so there's nobody nearby to see them. It became one of their favorite places to hang out and for some reason, it terrifies Nico today.

Will plops himself on the ground and stretches out his long legs. He's only wearing board shorts and he seems to have grown a good three or four inches and put on more muscle in the past year. He looks like an adult.

Aware that he's probably going to start looking like an idiot if he just stands there, Nico sits down a couple of feet from Will.

"I thought about you a lot this past year," Will says after a long pause.

It catches Nico off guard and he looks over, curious. Will's looking straight at him again, like he can see inside Nico's head. Nico lifts an eyebrow.

"I missed you." Will stops talking and seems to be chewing over what he wants to say next. Then he takes a deep breath and releases it. "I had the opportunity to go out with a few people this past year, but you were there in the back of my head and I just couldn't do it. I think I might have hurt a couple of them when I turned them down, but …"

Nico furrows his eyebrows. What is Solace even rambling on about? "I don't understand," Nico admits.

Will scoots closer, closing the distance between them. He settles his hand on top of Nico's where it rests on his knee. When he speaks, his voice is low, melodic. It leaves Nico thrumming like a plucked guitar string. "There were a few people at school who wanted to date me. But the only person I feel that way about is you."

Nico's face floods with heat. _No way. There is no way these words are coming out of Will Solace's mouth._ He thinks back to the previous summer, how often Will touched him, how he'd get carried away with listening to Will talk about all his hopes and dreams, and how they'd end up at the campfire, Will's arm around his shoulder, fitting together like puzzle pieces. He'd opened up last summer, until the final week when Will was preparing to go back home. That's when he'd started closing up again, distancing himself, telling himself he was stupid to feel what he did.

He blinks. Will's still touching him, though his hand has moved up Nico's arm to his shoulder. He's patiently waiting for Nico to say something, his eyes wide, nervous. Nico is suddenly aware of how Will must be feeling, imagining the sort of guts it takes to tell your crush you like them, unsure if you're going to get shut down. _Oh. Damn._ He swallows. "Really?"

Will smiles again, though Nico can feel his hand shaking on his shoulder. It's radiating heat, warming him up from head to foot. It's almost like the icy barriers he's put up around his emotions are thawing under Will's touch, his gaze, and now they're all going to come spilling out.

"Can I kiss you, Nico?" Will breathes. His lips are only inches away and Nico isn't sure how that happened.

He nods, but then _he's_ closing the distance and pressing his lips against Will's.

They're softer than he'd expected, drier, and then Will moves them, his hand settling on the back of Nico's neck and Nico moves his to match. A small gasp of surprise escapes him when Will swipes his lips with his tongue, but instead of pulling back, he opens his mouth and does the same thing. And then he's lost. Will pulls him close and kisses deep, stealing his breath. Nico holds onto Will's back, muscles moving under his palms, and goes with it, letting himself drown in sensation.

He'd thought he'd never have this, do this with anybody, that it was an impossible hope, not worth considering, but now … Will backs off of the intensity, kisses soft and quick, smiling in between, his eyes half-lidded and sparkling when Nico sneaks a peek. They end the kiss, still holding each other, noses touching and breathing heavy.

"So this means …" Nico starts to say, not sure what it is that he's asking.

"Yeah." Will's voice is breathy and low, sending another wave of tingling nerves flooding though Nico's body. "I mean, I want you to be my boyfriend. Will you?"

Nico blinks and pulls away. He's still so high off the ground he can't even feel his feet. He looks down at Will's chest, his hands resting over Will's nipples, though he can't remember consciously putting them there. It's so right, Will's body under his palms, the way they slot together. His lips twitch at the corners. "Alright. But I reserve the right to call up a skeletal army if you piss me off."

Will chuckles and shifts so they're sitting side by side again, legs touching, Will's arm around Nico's back and Nico tucked up against him, resting his head on his shoulder. "Anything you say, Death Boy. I think you're hot as hell commanding an army."

Nico's not sure exactly how it happened, but now he's looking forward to the long summer days ahead of them.


End file.
